March 2008/3

German reinsurer Hannover Re is expected to report 2007 profits of EUR779mn on 12 March, according to analyst William Hawkins of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW).

Wall Street banks could lose a further $325bn in capital due to deteriorating sub-prime US mortgages in the face of a "systemic margin call", according to JPMorgan.

The terms of the offer by French insurance giant AXA to acquire 100 percent of UK broker SBJ Group Ltd values the intermediary at more than twice its 2006 reported turnover of £76.14mn.

Bermuda-headquartered (re)insurer Catlin Group Ltd reported an 8 percent increase in combined earnings to $462mn for 2007, on the back of the integration of acquired London (re)insurer Wellington Underwriting...

Brit Insurance Holdings said it was "business as usual" this morning after the UK insurer posted £62.5mn of net reserves for sub-prime related liability claims.

The major catastrophe modelling agencies are again disagreeing over the size of losses arising from an event with estimates of insured losses from European Windstorm Emma varying between EUR300mn and EUR1.3bn.

Listed Bermudian run-off firm Enstar Group Ltd reported a drop in its full-year profits last year despite seeing its asset base grow by a third through acquisitions.

Ambac Assurance Corp, one of the monoline insurance sector's giants, lost 17 percent of its stock market value last week after revealing a $1.5bn recapitalisation plan that disappointed investors hoping for a bigger rescue effort.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc's (JLT) 2007 results were welcomed by analysts last week as a sign the firm may have turned the corner following recent restructurings and investments in its trading operations.

Lloyd's insurer Chaucer Holdings plc will continue to target improving conditions in UK motor as it looks to realign its book in the face of softening in other lines of business.

Stephen Matanle, the long-standing Marsh executive who left the firm last month as part of a widespread restructuring, has joined Libero Ventures Ltd, the new Lehman Brothers subsidiary.